Self-cleaning lawn rake



-March 24, 1931. G, DE vRlEs SELF cLEAn1NG-LAwn 1mm Filed April 17. 1929 @25 through the rake' hevad- 'I Y Y of Figure l.

Pienfedliviarf 24," 193i GERRIT nn vains, or iiiiisscroivn,'iviinivnsoiirY vy SELF-GLEAMNG Lewis BAKE' i l Y Application IedApIl 17,

The present invention is directed to im proveinents in selfcleaning lawn rakes. Y A

The primary obgectof the inventionis to y providea'device of this character constructed.

ks in suchfnianiier that'the Vlitter gathered can be easily dislodged from the teeth without the'.

y v necessity of lifting the rake for removing the' litter by' hand.

Another object ofthe invention is'to Vprovlo? vide a device of ,this lrindcapable ,of Ybeing used in anon-self, cleaning position upon in'- vertillgftheiake.. Y Anotherobject ofthe invention is to vpro'- vide a device otthiskind which is simple iny 15 construction,etiicient'in operation, durable,

,y and one which n lcan be Ymanufactured at "a small cost.

, l/Vith these and other objects inl view',thi'sff` K I invention resides in thejfnovel features of con--A 20 struction, formation,V` combination and.v arsy rangement ofparts'r to `be hereinafter more to f collect the f litter and side arms '7i 4ofthe'teeth koccupying thev slots 5 vwill Vengage theSuppeiendwalls' of said'- slots. to, 'preventrecking of 4the barthus vfully described, claimed,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which :v I Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view Figure 2 is a similar View showing the rake head inverted. I Y Y Figure 3 is-a-,Sectionalnview on the line 3ft? 1 of-Figure -1. l' j Y 4 p .y

Figure ,4 is a sectional view on the line H r Figure 5 is a sectional View on the line 5 5 of Figure-3. 1

Re erring to the drawings, A designates a rake head which includes a ferrule l in which '7 ofthe 'KU-shaped teeth 8, which are of conventional form. Upon reference to Figure 3 fof the drawings,.it'will bef observed that one side, arm 7 'of apairof teeth engage the slots 5 of the bearings 4,' thus preventing endwise "12, this bar havingformed thereina perfora# -V a' Vtion"*1355A ciOSSL lOLI 145 islxedtothe side Y aimsf ofja pair of; theteethS and serv'esfto ,Y

limit the'downward swinging movement of' o Y the handle 2 is fitted," said ferrule vhaving lat'- f ings 4, fand fixed in this bar are the sidearms 1,1929.v "seriaiivo 35596-15.

movementlo'fthe banlbut permittingthe arms to freelyslide'fin said slots. A bolt S'isth ended through I o l vthe; eriirof. the bar 6 so thatfits `upper and lowene'nds will extend from the bar. QTo theupper end of theboltis l'ixedfthefforward' end .of the I .coillspring 10, therear fixed tothe ferrule'l. The tension Aoffthespringy is fsuch.` that AitV normally rholds the arms fof'the teeth which engagein the slots 5,7yieldablyv fengaged ywith thelupper end' walls of Asaid'slo'ts,,asiindicated in Figure 1in full liii'esQV 1 1 'Y i. A yoke 11 is supported by theferrulel and has pivotallyv; connected: theretoa latch'v bar* thef-latchfbyarf. i *l `vllVhenf in use, the 'rake is atY which time fthe permitting @thefteethfto 'gatherv the litter',v

l'llofclean the litter fromgthe teeth it is Aonly VVnecessary' to move"` tlierake forwardly and uponexerting slight pressure upon thehanA -die the bar 6 willrock to the'position. indiv v. cated ini dotted lines inFigure l, inordeij. that the'teeth. will drag uponr the lawn, thusi dislodgingA the litter from the teeth. During Y the forward movement of the. rake, the side` arms of the teeth koperating in the slots 5 drawnrear-Wardly`r @mik there@ n .being will .engage the lower end walls thereofl to limit vthe rocking movement fof-thefbar 6'.

The SpringlO will `obviously roclrthe *bar'G it reversely` after each cleaning operation to properly position the teeth for gathering litter when the rake.y is moved rearwardly.

Obviously, during theseoperations thelateh bar'l2- will rest uponthe-cross bar 1li to prevent `the `lovverextended endr of the'bolt '5 from entering the perforation 18, thus perhead is inverted,- whereupon V74the latch barf vmittin'gji'ree .rocking movement of the bar 6 and its associat'edfteeth, g r When it is desired to use the oppositeends @or Vbightportions Aof the teeth r8, the rake` 100 L; i s f 79,3331

will swing downwardly in order that the ad-v jacent extended end of the bolt 5 will enter the perforation 13 of the latch bar, thus hold* ing the har 6 against rocking in either direc-l tion. 'Upon again inverting the head so that the rake canbe used as a self-cleaner, the latch bar will automatically disengage the bolt to permit 'free rocking movement of the bar and associated teeth.

From the `foregoing, itis thought that the construction, operation, and manyfadvan-- tages of the hereinvdesciibed invention will be apparent to those skillediii the art, without further description, and it will he understood that various changesin the size,

shape` proportion and minor details of V'construction maybe resorted to-wi'thout departing from thespirit or sacrificing any Vor' the advantages loie." the invention.

' lVhat is claimedV is:

I '1. A lawn rake comprising a handle memloer, a toothed head r'oclrably mounted n the handle `member, and latch meansfnormally inactive and rendered active upon inverting the rake to hold the toothed head iniixed position.

2'; A' lawn rake comprising a handle ineinloer, a toothed head rockahlymounted iii the lhandle member, and a latch pivoted to the handle member and automatically engage-- able 'with the toothed head, upon inverting,

Y the rake, to hold it in ifixed'position.

3'. A lawn rake comprising a handle menibei", toothed head Lrocllbly -mounted in the l handle member, a yoke pivoted to the handle meinhenand alatch pivotedito the yoke and l adapted to engage and ithe position ofthe toothed head'upon inverting the rake.

4. A lawn ralevconiprising a handle ineinber, a toothed head i'ocka-hly mounted in the handle member, an eleinentproje'cting from the' toothed head to 'torina stop, and a latch pivoted to the handle member and p erforated to receive said stop upon inverting the rake to hold the toothed head in ilixed position.

ln testimony whereof aliix my signature.

GERRIT DE VRlES. 

